Printer and control system therefor



March 16-, 1948. LANG 2,437,698

PRINTER AND CONTROL SYSTEM THEREFOR Filed Dec. 12, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 1NUMHER REGISTERS HUNDREDS TENS 8 UNITS CALLING INVENTOR W t LANG a g:ATZOEAEV March 16, 1948. w. Y. LANG 2,437,698

PRINTER AND CONTROL SYSTEM THEREFOR Filed Dec. 12, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2lNl/E/VTOR w y LANG fia. I

ATTORNEY v March 16, 1948. w. Y. LANG 2,437,698

PRINTER AND CONTROL SYSTEM THEREFOR Filed Dec. 12, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 3lNl/ENTOR W k LANG A TTOPNEV w, YQLANG PRINTER AND CONTROL SYSTEMTHEREFOR Filed Dec. 12, 1942 Sheets-Sheet 4 v? m? ks NNH INVENTOR wKLANG 6&5. M

ATTORNEY Patented ar. 16, was

PRINTER AND. CONTROLSYSTEMI. THEREFOR.

Wilmarth. Y. llangyilowacolv N. J.',..as sig ncr1-.to. Bell TelephoneLaboratories Incorporated, New York, N.- Y., a corporation .ofNemYorkApplication December 12; 1942, SerialNol 468 3289? 9 Claims: 1

This invention relates to printer control sys. tems and moreparticularly to a system forv cone trolling the ticket printer or" anautomatic. toll ticketing system.

It has been proposed to enable calling. subscribers to control theestablishment of connec-v tions to lines terminating in nearby tollareas by dialing oi the directory numbers of suchlines. In such asystem, in response to the initiation .of a call, a connection isextended from the calling line'to a trunk which trunk upon being seizedbecomes connected with an idle sender in which all of the oiiice codedigits and the numerical digits of the called line number. dialed by thecalling subscriber are registered. The sender then associates itselfwith an idle; calling line identifier which proceeds to determinetheiden-.- tity of the callin line and to cause the registrae tion in thesender of digits in accordancewith such identification. The trunk isprovidedwith a printer which is operable to print on a toll ticket suchinformation as may be required torproperly bill the call to the callingsubscriber. 'The sender is arranged to control the setting-ofautomaticswitching mechanism in accordance. with. the digits of the called linenumber registered therein to complete the extension of theconnectionjrom the calling line over the trunk to the called-line and tocontrol the ticket printer. of the trunk. to print the data relating tothe established connection which has been registered in the-sender, suchas the ofiice code and numericalgdigits of both the calling and calledlinenumbersz.

To control the ticket printer fifteen control conductors extending fromthe sender tov the trunk in which the toll ticket printer is located arerequired over any one of twelve of whicha marking ground potential maybe applied toany one of the twelve commutator segments of the printer,over one of which the ticket severing or cut magnet of the printer iscontrolled and over two of which either the cut magnet 01" the printmagnet oi the printer maysignal the printer control progress switch ofthe associated sender that it has properly operated. The printer con"-trol circuits of this system are disclosed in'the application of J. B.Retallack; Serial No. 448,783, filed June 27, 19 42.

The ticket thus printed may be used by the commercial department of theoperating-telephone company to prepare a subscribers monthly bill in thesame manner as the ticket usually prepared by the toll operator isemployed.

A further logical step in the development of an automatic ticketingsystem as just described, would be the utilization of the printed ticketto automatically prepare the subscribers bill. To utilize such printedtickets it would be necessary to scan them by an electronic scannerandto make registrations of the scanneditems of data for controllingcomputing and billingapparatus.

ince. the items printed on the ticket by the 2.. printenof .the systemjust described are in numerical orrcliaracter. form, it would becomedesirable to print. additionalimarkson the ticket'scorre sponding toeachnumericalor character item to better. enable the ..functioning of ascanner.

It is ..an,.object'of .the presentinventlon to pro-' videatiket printerand "control circuit therefore whereby the entire functioning oftli'eprinter may benontrolledover a oneewire circuitwith'ground return-or. over. a..tworwire. loop circuit extending from .theprihter controlapparatus of the asso-. ciated. sender, to. the printer. thus materiallyreducing the number of control conductors hereto.- fore required;

A furtherobjectoi the invention, and which object .is allieditopreceding. object; is. to enable the control .of .a-printerwhich may belocated. at aconsiderabledistance fromthe senden. rpr example,,theticket printermight be associated with. atandem trunk at a...tandemvofilceoi the exchange. areaand'the sender for controllin fiuchprinter.mightbeJocatedin the originating oifice in which .thecalling.line.terminates andthe ticket printerwould be. controlledover.the. interofiice tandem. trunk. extending. from.- the originatinofiiceto theeterminating ,oifica. By thus concert: trating the ticketprinters in the tandem-bffice, the number. of printers required couldbematerially reduced.

A .further, object of. the. invention is .to. enable the printer. toprint. additional. markson the ticket, corresponding to eachnumericallorrcliarr acter item .printed, for enablingtheiunctioni-ng of.a photoelectric. scanner.

llolattain theseobjectsit is. proposed. to pro: vide a plurality of codetranslator relaysinthe sender including a-relay for each of. the.temnumerical digits. .arelay for the asteriskand a. relay for thedashcharacters.whichthe sender: may requiretheprinterto print andarelayfor. .0011:- trolling. the. transmission .of av cut. signalfto. theprinter. These translator relays are selectively operated in.accordance-.with the settings of the various; register. relays of thesender and; under the controlofthe sender progressswitch and in turncause the selective grounding of segments of. a start-stop. sending,distributor. of. the. type well-known. ir'rthe telegraph ..art... Thus.in each successive. position of -.the progress. switch one .of the.code translator. relays corresponding to... the particular digit orcharacter to be transmittedr'to the printer. is operatedandthedistributor. brush arm. is released to rotate. through.- a. smgle.revolutiontotransmit arcodeof impulsesover aisin rle conductorwithaground returner. oyer. a twor wireloopto the receiving magnet of.asinglemagnet .receiver associated with the. ticket-printer. Thecodesof impulsesmay be in .accordancewith a four. unit telegraph.codeasindicated in a-table to belater reierred to- Asjust stated thereceiver. may. be. of. the wellknown single magnet. type such, .for.example as is 3 disclosed in Patent 1,904,164, granted on April 18,1933, to S. Morton et al. but modified to function on a four unit codeand the selector fingers of which are arranged to cause the closure ofcircuits rather than to cause the operation of comb bars. The fourcontact pairs of this receiver which are selectively closed in codecombinations in response to incoming code signals are connected to fourtranslator relays which are thereby selectively operated to translateeach incoming code signal and to cause the closure of a printer controlconductor corresponding to that one of the thirteen digit or charactersignals transmitted from the sender in response to the operation of oneof the thirteen translator relays of the sender.

Twelve of these control'conductors are extended to the type bar releasemagnets of a twelve bar printer and the thirteenth control conductor isextended to the cut magnet of the printer. The twelve type bars of theprinter are arranged in a single horizontal plane and any bar whenreleased through the operation of its release magnet may be depressedinto printing position by a printing bail operable by a cam on theprinter control shaft. The paper feed of the printer is also controlledby a second cam on the control shaft.

The type face of each type bar may, in addition to the numerical digitor asterisk or dash type carried thereby, be provided with a suitablemarking type for printing a mark on the paper of suitable area forscanning. The linear position across the width of the paper or tape ofthe printed mark may be employed when scanned to determine the nature ofthe digit or character printed adjacent to it on the paper by the sametype bar. The features of the invention having nowbeen described in ageneral manner, reference may now be had to the following detaileddescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 shows such portions of the sender of an automatic ticketingsystem as is necessary for an understanding of the invention and thecode impulse sending apparatus in accordance with the present invention;Fig. 2 shows in perspective portions of a single magnet receivingapparatus operative in response to the code impulses transmitted fromthesending apparatus of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows register relay circuits for cooperation with the receivingapparatus of Fig. 2 to translate the impulse codes received by thereceiving apparatus and to controlthe operation of operating magnets ofa printer in accordance therewith;

Fig. 4 shows in perspective portions of a printer operable from theregister relay circuit of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section of a tape or ticket prepared by the printer; and

Fig. 6 shows the type face of one of the type bars.

In the consideration of the drawing, Fig. 2 should be placed beneathFig. 1, Fig. 3 should be placed beneath Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 should beplaced beneath Fig. 3.

As previously stated, the present invention is applicable to theautomatic ticketing system disclosed in the application of J. B.Retallack, hereinbefore referred to and to the system more fullydisclosed in the application of J. W. Gooderham,

Serial No. 448,782, filed June 27, 1942. For the complete circuits ofthe sender, reference may be had to the Gooderham application. However,to simplify the present disclosure, only certain of fthe registers ofthe sender, the progress switch and a few of the control relays havebeen disclosed. The progress switch is of the step-by-step type, thebrushes I00 to I03 of which are advanced step-by-step in response to theoperation and release of the stepping magnet I94 in cooperation with thestepping relay I05. Relay I66 is an oilnormal relay which is operatedwhen the sender is first seized by a trunk to apply ground to theofi-normal ground bus-bars of the sender such as bus-bar or conductorI01. Relay IE8 is operated when an identifier is connected with thesender and such identifier has caused the digits of the identifiedcalling line number to become registered in the sender. Relays I69, H0,and III are three of the ten calling oflice unit register relays one ofwhich is operated from the identifier to determine the three ofiice codedigits of the identified calling line number. Relays H2 to II S,inclusive, are the relays of the thousands numerical digit register forregistering the thousands digit of the identified calling line number,the corresponding relays of the hundreds, tens and unit digit registersfor registering the other digits of the calling line number beingindicated by the box Ill. The other registers of the sender have beenomitted to simplify the disclosure.

The stop-start distributor is of the well-known telegraph type andcomprises six commutator segments including a start segment I I8, foursending segments H9 to I22, inclusive and a stop segment I23. The shaftI24 of the distributor carries a brush arm I25 and is driven throughgearing and a friction clutch by a motor I26. Normally the shaft isrestrained from rotation by the stop arm I21 which engages with thetooth of stop cam I28 carried by the shaft. The stop arm may be moved todisengage the tooth of the stop cam by the energizationof the startmagnet winding I29 under the control of relay I 36.

The sending segments of the distributor are connected in various codecombinations in accordance with a four unit telegraph code to thecontacts of thirteen translator relays I3I to I43, inclusive, whichrelays are selectively operated in each terminal position of theprogress switch in accordance with the setting of one of the registersof the sender.

It will be assumed that relays I06 and I08 have been operated followingthe seizure of the sender and the transfer of information determined bythe identifier to registers of the sender and that office unit registerrela I 09 has been operated, relay I I3 of the thousands digit registerhas been operated to register the thousands digit I and that relays ofthe hundreds, tens and units digit registers, indicated by the box II I,have been selectively operated to register the digits '2, 3 and 4. Withrelay I08 operated, a circuit is established from ground over the frontcontact of relay I08, the back contact of relay I44, the normal terminalof the are engaged by brush I62 of the progress switch over theinterrupter contacts and through the winding of stepping magnet IM tobattery and ground. Magnet I04 thereupon operates and releases toadvance the brushes I 00 and IE2 to the second terminals of theirrespective arcs, brush I02 upon leaving the normal terminal of its arc,opening the circuit of magnet I04.

With brush I now engaged with the No. 2 terminal of its arc andofi-normal relay I06 operated, a circuit is established from ground overcontacts of relay I 06, over the upper normal contacts of stepping relayI05, brush I 00 and the No. 2 terminal of its arc, the inner upper backcontact of relay I45 through the winding of translator relay I02 tobattery. Relay I42 thereupon operates, over its right front contactsconnects ground to the Nos. 1, 2, and 4 sending segments i :0, I20 andI22 of the distributor and at its left contacts establishes the circuitsfor relay I30 and start magnet I20. The circuit of magnet I20 extendsover a back contact of relay I30 which is slow to operate so that magnetI20 first operates followed by the operation of relay I30 which whenoperated, releases magnet I20. Magnet E20 upon operating removes stoparm I2! from the tooth of stop cam I28 thereby permitting the motor I20to drive the shaft 524. Since magnet I29 releases as soon as relay I30operates, the stop arm IE1 is again released into engagement with thestop cam I28 to arrest the rotation of the shaft I20 after it has madeone complete revolution. Thus upon the energization of any one of thetranslator relays I3I to I03, inclusive, the distributor shaft I20 isreleased to make a single revolution and thereby sweeps the brushcarried by the distributor arm I25 from its normal engagement with thestop segment I23 over the start segment H8 and the sending segments iii!to I22, inclusive, into engagement again with the stop segment I23.

With the brush of distributor arm I25 normally in engagement with thestop segment I23 and the sender connected with the printer of a trunk,as for example over a sender trunk connector as disclosed in theapplication of J. B. Retallack, hereinbefore referred to, a circuit isestablished from ground over segment I23, the distributor arm brush,conductor I50, through the winding of the receiver magnet 200 to batterywhereupon .ie magnet 200 is energized to move the clutch release arm 20Isecured to its armature 202 into a position with respect to the notch onstop disc 203 secured to the cam barrel 200 to arrest the rotation ofthe cam barrel in its normal position. When the brush or" thedistributor arm I25 disengages stop segment i23, and engages startsegment M0, the circuit of magnet 200 is opened to release the cam disc203 of the receiver for rotation and as the brush of arm I25 engages theNos. 1, 2 and 4 segments to which ground has been connected by theoperated translator relay M2, the magnet 200 is reenergized in thesending positions 1, 2 and 4 of the sending distributor for a purpose tobe later described.

As the shaft I2 i starts its rotation, cam I03 carried thereby closesthe associated contacts I48 as soon as the brush of distributor arm I25engages the start segment H and such contacts are held closed by the camI06 until the brush reaches its stop position thereby preparing aholding circuit for stepping relay I05. When the distributor arm I25 hasrotated until its brush is in engagement with the No. 4 sending segment522, cam III'I carried by shaft I20 closes the contacts Hi0 associatedtherewith whereby the circuit of stepping relay I 05 is established frombattery through its winding over the contacts M9, the front contact ofstart relay I08 to ground and upon operating locks over its lowercontacts and the closed contacts I40 to ground at the front contacts ofrela I00. At its upper alternate contacts, relay I05 establishes acircuit from ground on oft-normal ground conductor I0'I through suchcontacts and the winding of stepping magnet I04 to battery, whereuponmagnet I05 energizes preparatory to advancing the brushes of theprogress switch one step upon its subsequent deenergization. At itsupper normal contacts, relay I05 opens the Previously traced 6 circuitfor the operated translator relay I 42 which releases to remove markingground from the seg ments of the sending distributor and to releaserelay I30. As soon as the shaft I20 has rotated until cams I06 and I4?have caused both the contacts I43 and I40 to open, relay I05 releases inturn releasing stepping magnet I04 which then advances brushes I00 andI02 of the progress switch into engagement with the No. 3 terminals oftheir associated arcs.

With brush I00 in engagement with the No. 3 terminal of its arc, theasterisk translator relay I52 is again operated in a circuit extendingover the upper back contact of relay I55 and the distributor arm I25 isreleased to rotate through one revolution as previously described, againsending code impulses in sending positions 1, 2 and 4 to the magnet 200of the receiver, indicative of the asterisk symbol. Again through theoperation of the cam operated contacts I08 and I40, the stepping relayI05 and the stepping magnet I04 are operated and released to release theoperated translator relay I42 and to advance brushes I00 and I02 of theprogress switch into engagement with the No. 4 terminals of theirassociated arcs.

With the calling ofice unit register rela I00 operated, and it beingassumed that the terminals A, B and C connected with its contacts arecross-connected to the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 terminals, respectively, toindicate that the office code digits of the calling line number or 4, 5and 6, a circuit is established from ground on off-normal groundconductor I07 over the upper normal contacts of relay I05, brush I00 andthe No. 4 terminal of its arc, the lower front contact of register relayI09, terminal A strapped to terminal No. 4, thence to battery through.the winding of the No. 4 translator relay I34. Relay I34 thereuponoperates to cause the connection of ground over its right contacts tothe No. 4 sending segment I32 of the sending distributor and to causethe operation of start magnet I29. During the rotation of thedistributor arm through one revolution, a single code impulse istransmitted through the winding of receiving magnet 200 in sendingposition 4 of the distributor. In the manner previously described,stepping relay I05 and stepping magnet I04 are controlled by the camoperated contacts I48 and I09 to release the translator relay I34 and toadvance brushes I00 and I02 of the progress switch into engagement withthe No.5 terminals of their respective'arcs.

With brush I00 in engagement with the No. 5 terminal of its arc, acircuit is established from ground on off-normal ground conductor I01,over the upper normal contacts of relay I05, brush I00 and the No. 5terminal of its arc, over the inner upper front contact of registerrelay I00, terminal B, strapped to terminal No. 5, thence to batterythrough the winding of the No. 5 translator relay I35. Relay I 35there-upon operates to cause the connection of ground over its rightcontacts to the Nos. 1 and 2 sending segments H9 and I20 of the sendingdistributor and to cause the operation of start magnet I 20. During therotation of the distributor arm through one revolution, two codeimpulses are transmitted through the winding of receiving magnet 00 insending positions 1 and 2 of the distributor. In the manner previouslydescribed, stepping relay I05 and stepping magnet I04 are controlled bythe cam operated contacts I48 and I40 to release the translator relayI35 and to advance brushes I00 and I02 of the progress switch intoengage- 7 ment with the N o. 6 terminals of their respective arcs.

With brush I in engagement with the No. 6 terminal of its arc, a circuitis established from ground on off-normal ground conductor I0I over theupper normal contacts of relay I05, brush I00 and the No. 6 terminal ofits are over the upper front contact of relay strapped to terminal N0. 6and thence to battery through the winding of the No. 6 translator relayI36. Re1ay I36 thereupon operates to cause the connection of ground overits right contacts to the Nos. 1 and 3 sending segments H9 and I2I ofthe sending distributor and to cause the operation of start magnet I29.During the rotation of the distributor arm through one revolution, twocode impulses are transmitted through the winding of receiving magnet200 in the sending positions 1 and 3 of the distributor. -In the mannerpreviously described, stepping relay I05 and stepping magnet I04 arecontrolled by the cam operated contacts I48 and I43 to release thetranslator relay I39 and to advance brushes I00 and I02 of the progressswitch into engagement with the No. 7 terminals of their respectivearcs.

With the brush I00 in engagement with the No. 7 terminal of its are, acircuit is established from ground on off-normal ground conductor I01over the upper normal contacts of relay I05, brush I00 and the No. 7terminal of its arc to battery through the winding of the dashtranslator relay I4I. Relay I4I thereupon operates to cause theconnection of ground over its right contacts to the Nos. 1, 3 and 4sending segments II9, I2I and I22 of the sending distributor and tocause the operation of start magnet I29. During the rotation of thedistributor arm through one revolution, three code impulses aretransmitted to the winding of receiving magnet 200 in sending positions1, 3 and 4 of the distributor. In the manner previously described,stepping relay I05 and stepping magnet I04 are controlled by thecam-operated contacts I48 and I49 to release the translator relay MI andto advance brushes I00 and I02 of the progress switch into engagementwith the No. 8 terminals of their respective arcs.

With the brush I00 in engagement with the N o. 8 terminal of its arc andwith register relay II3 of the thousands register assumed to beoperated, a circuit is established from ground on off-normal groundconductor I01 over the upper normal contacts of relay I05, brush I00 andthe N0. 8 terminal of its arc, over the normal contacts of registerrelay II 2, the inner front contacts of register relay II3 to batterythrough the winding of the N0. 1 translator relay I3I. Relay I3I uponoperating causes the connection of ground over its right contacts to theNo. 1 sending segment of the sending distributor and causes theoperation of start magnet I29. During the rotation of the distributorarm through one revolution, one code impulse is transmitted through thewinding of receiving magnet 200 in sending position 1 of thedistributor. In the manner previously described, stepping relay I05 andstepping magnet I04 are controlled by the cam operated contacts I48 andI49 to release the translator relay I3I and to advance brushes I00 andI02 of the progress switch into engagement with the No. 9 terminals oftheir respective arcs.

In a similar manner as the progress switch advances through terminalpositions 9, 10 and 11, code impulses are transmitted to the receivingmagnet 200 under the control of the translator I09, terminal C relaysI32, I33 and I34 and the relays of the hundreds, tens and unit registersindicated by the box II! and assumed to be operated to register thehundreds, tens and units digits 2, 3 and 4 of the calling line number.As the progress switch is advanced step-by-step, other items ofinformation registered in the sender and in the associated month, dayand hour circuit (not shown) are transmitted to the receiving circuituntil brush IOI has been advanced into engagement with the No. 9terminal of its arc, at which time a circuit is established from groundon off-normal ground conductor I01 over the upper normal contacts ofrelay I05, brush IM and. the No. 9 terminal of its arc to batterythrough the winding of the ticket cutting translator relay I43. RelayI43 thereupon operates to cause the connection of ground over its rightcontacts to the Nos. 1, 2 and 4 sending segments of the sendingdistributor and to cause the operation of start magnet I29. During therotation of the distributor arm through one revolution, three codeimpulses are transmitted through the winding of receiving magnet 200 insending positions 1, 2 and 4 of the distributor. In the mannerpreviously described, stepping relay I05 and stepping magnet I04 arecontrolled by the cam operated contacts I48 and. I49 to release thetranslator relay I43 and to advance the brushes IOI and I03 of theprogress switch into engagement with the No. 10 terminals of theirrespective arcs, thereafter in the following successive terminalpositions of brush IOI translator relays are operated in accordance withthe settings of other sender registers to transmit codes of impulses tothe receiving magnet 200 in the manner previously described.

When the sender has completed the transmission of all registeredinformation to the receiving apparatus, relay I08 becomes released toclose a. self-interrupting circuit for stepping magnet I04 which may betraced from ground over the back contact of relay I08, strappedterminals of the arcs of the progress switch with which brushes I02 andI03 cooperate, the interrupter contacts and winding of magnet I04 tobattery, whereupon the progress switch is advanced until it reaches itsnormal position in which position the circuit of magnet I 04 is openedat brush I 03. To complete the release of the sender, off-normal relay506 is released to remove ground from the offnormal ground bus-bars suchas I0I thereby releasing all operated relays of the sender.

The code series transmissible to the receiving apparatus by the sendingdistributor under the control of the translator relays of the sender forthe various digits and characters, some of which code series have beenpreviously referred to are in accordance with the following table:

Diflit or Character Tr 3 Sending Segment Positions of Operated SendingDistributor Eflectivc It will be recalled that when the circuit overconductor I52 was initially established just prior to the transmissionof the series of code impulses under the control of the sendingdistributor at which time the distributor arm brush was engaged with thestop segment I23, receiver magnet 22% operated to interpose the stop arm2M in the path of the tooth on the stop disc 2533 thereby arresting therotation of the cam barrel 252. The barrel is rotatably mounted on themotor driven shaft 255 between the toothed clutch collar 226 secured toand rotatable with the shaft 225 and the collar 221 which is slidable onthe shaft 235 but keyed thereto. Interposed between one end of the cambarrel 2% and the clutch collar 225 and between the stop disc 223secured to the other end of the cam barrel and the slidable collar 221are friction washers 228. The frictional engagement between the cambarrel 2% and collar 2% and between the stop disc 293 and collar 221 isadjusted by means of helical spring 229 and the adjustable collar 2H2secured to the shaft 225 by a screw 2! I. With the magnet 26% energizedand the stop arm 26! engaged against the tooth of stop disc 203 the cambarrel which is driven from the shaft 225 through the friction clutchesas just described is arrested but the driving motor continues to'rotatethe driving shaft 225.

During the first line pulse or start interval, that is, while the brushof the sending distributor traversing the start segment M8, the circuitof magnet 229 is opened and the armature of such magnet is thereforeretracted by the spring 212 to remove stop arm 29! from the tooth ofstop disc 223 thereby permitting the cycle of operation of the cambarrel 2% to be initiated. During the signal code the stop arm 26! willbe vibrated but without effect until the magnet 2253 becomes energizedat the end of the sending cycle when the brush of the arm i225 of thesending distributor again engages the stop segment I23 at which time thecam barrel will have completed a single complete revolution and the stoparm 22! of the energized magnet 222 will again engage the tooth of thestop disc 223.

Before proceeding with a discussion of the operation of the receiver inresponse to the receipt of an impulse series, the remaining members ofthe receiver will be briefly described. The armature of magnet is inaddition to the stop arm 25 provided with an arm 253 having two paralleland angularly disposed extensions 2M and 2ft which be move oppositeeither the upper arms 252 or the lower arms 2E1 of the T-shaped selectorfingers 258 through the energization of the agnet or the deenergizationthereof. The selector fingers of which there are four are thin flatmemoers adapted to have two different movements, first a reciprocatingmovement and a rocking movement. Each selector finger urovided with acircularly shaped portion 253-3 h ivotally retained in a circularlyshaped in the vertical arm of a, T-shaped operatl er Each operatinglever has one of its al arms 22! positioned with its end bee c 1 barreland in alignment with projection, such as 222, of the barrel and inclhorizontal arm 222 connected to a so normally positioned by theirassociated springs 224 that the ends of their arms 221 are in engagementwith the under surface of the cam barrel 204 as disclosed.

Associated with each of the selector fingers 2 l8 and operable therebyis a T-shaped contact operating lever 221 having three arms 228, 229 and236 and a depending locking arm 23 I. The arms 228 and 229 are separatedby a rounded protuberance 232 shaped to form withsaid arms twodepressions in which the forwardly extending end of a selector finger218 may rest depending upon whether the end of the finger is swungupwardly,

or downwardly as will be later described. The arm 23!} of each of theselevers engages beneath the insulated end of the movable spring of a pairof contact springs 252. The four contact operating levers 221 arepivotally mounted on a rod 233 which may be suitably mounted in theframe of the receiver. For maintaining each selector finger 218 inproper alignment with its associated operating lever 222 and with itsassociated contact operating lever 221, the assemblies of fingers andlevers may be positioned between parallelly disposed guide plates which,to simplify the drawing, have been omitted therefrom.

Also pivotally mounted on the rod 225 is an additional clutch releaselever 234 which is substantially 'U-shaped, one arm 235 of which has itsend positioned beneath the cam barrel 2% in alignment with one of thecam projections 222 thereof and the other arm 235 of which is normallyengaged against the cam face of the clutch throwout disc 231. The armsare normally held in the positions disclosed with the end of arm 235engaged against the lower surface of the cam barrel 224 by the spring238 one end of which is connected to the arm 239 of the lever 23A andthe other end of which is anchored to the rod 225.

The disc 23'! is formed integrally with the toothed clutch disc 24!) andwith the cam disc 24! and is rotatably mounted on the shaft 205. Theteeth of clutch disc 2 30 are arranged to mesh with the teeth in theouter face of the collar. 2% when the disc 2 5i] is permitted to slideonthe shaft 265 toward the disc 225 under the influence.

of the spiral spring 222 upon the movement'of the end of the clutchrelease lever arm 236 from engagement with the cam face of the clutchthrow-out disc 231.

Cooperating with and normally engaged in the depression of cam disc 24!is a cam ro11erl243 rotatably mounted in the bifurcated end 244 of onearm of a locking member 2 55. The-member 225 has two arms 22-5 and 221by which it is pivotally supported on the rod 228 suitablysupported inthe receiver frame and has an upwardly extending lock plate 259 forcooperating with the depending locking arms 23! of the contact operatinglevers 221. A stud 250 of insulating material is secured in the loweredge of the plate 249 for engagement with the movable spring of a pairof springs 25!. The locking member is normally held by the spiral spring254 with its cam roller 243 engaged in the depression of cam 24!, withthe upper wedge-shaped edge 253 of its locking plate beneath the end ofthe depending arms 23I of the contact operating levers 221 and withitsstud 25!] normally holding the springs of the contact spring pair 25ldisengaged.

The cam barrel 264 is provided with five cam projections 222 spaceddegrees apart around the circumferential surface of the barrel andarranged in a spiral on such surface, there being no cam projection onthe barrel at the circumferen- 11 tial position opposite the stopposition of the barrel. Thesecam projections engage with the ends of thearms 221 of the operating levers 229 and the end of arm 235 of theclutch release lever 234 whereby these arms are depressed in successionbeginning with the No. 1 arm 221 in Fig. 2 and ending with the arm 235.l a

When the end of any lever 220 is engaged by a cam projection 222 and isdepressed, the upper end of the vertical arm of such lever is movedtowards the left as viewed in Fig. 2, thereby moving the associatedselector finger 218 to the left. If magnet 299 is at that timeunoperated, the lower extension 215 of the armature arm 213 will bepositioned opposite the lower extension 211 of the finger 218 and whenthe finger is moved toward the left, the lower extension 211 thereofwill engage the extension 215 thereby causing the finger 218 to rotatein the notch in the end of the vertical arm of the operating lever 220to move the free end of the select finger to a position opposite theupper arm 229 of the associated contact operating lever 221. If,however, the magnet 200 is at that time operated, the upper extension214 i of the armature arm 213 will be positioned opposite the upperextension 216 of the finger 218 and when the finger is moved toward theleft, the upper extension 216 thereof will engage the extension 214thereby causing the finger 218 to rotate to move the end thereof to aposition opposite the lower arm 228 of the associated contact operatinglever 221. As soon as the cam projection 222 has passed by the end ofthe operating lever 220, the spring 224 restores the lever to its normalposition thereby moving the vertical arm of the lever and the associatedselector finger 218 to the right, whereupon its end presses eitheragainst the arm 220 or against the arm 229 of the lever 221 dependingupon how the end of the finger has been previously positioned to causethe movement of the end of arm 230 of the lever 221 away from themovable spring of the associated contact pair 252 to maintain suchsprings disengaged or toward the movable spring to cause the springs tobe engaged.' It is to be noted that a contact pair 252 will becomeengaged only when the magnet 200 is energized at the time a camprojection 222 has caused the operation of the gzslociated lever 220,selector finger 218 and lever Returning to a consideration of thefunctioning of thecircuit, it will be recalled that upon theestablishment of the operating circuit 150 between the sendingdistributor and the receiver, magnet 200 was. energized to arrest therotation of the cam barrel 204 in its stop position. It will also berecalled that for transmittin the first item of data, an asterisk, fromthe sender to the receiver, the translator relay 142 was operated toconnect ground to the Nos. 1, 2, and 4 segments 119, 120 and 122 of thesending distributor and that, the magnet 129 was energized to permit thedistributor arm 125 to rotate through a single complete revolution, Whenin its rotation, the brush on arm 125 disengages the stop segment 123,and while it passes over the start segment 118, the circuit through themagnet 200 of the receiveris held open whereby the stop arm 201 is movedby the spring 212 out of engagement with the tooth of the stop disc 203thereby permitting the cam barrel 204 to be frictionally driven from theshaft 205 through one complete revolution.

During this revolution, the operatin levers 220 are successivelydepressed and released and 12 since it has been assumed that ground hasbeen connected to the sending segments 119, 120 and 122, magnet 200 willbe held energized in these sending positions but will be released as thebrush of distributor arm passes over sending segment 121. Consequentlythe ends of the first, second and fourth selector fingers 218 will bedepressed and the end of the third selector finger will be raised andwill, upon the movement of such selector fingers toward the right, causethe operation of the first, second and fourth contact operating levers221 into positions to close the associated Nos. 1, 2 and 4 contact pairs252. When, thereafter the cam projection on the cam barrel 204 depressesand releases the arm 235 of the clutch release lever 234, the end of itsarm 236 is moved from engagement with the cam face of disc 231 therebypermitting the engagement of the clutch disc 240 with the clutch collar206 whereby the cam 241 is driven .by the shaft 205 to depress the camroller end of the arm 246 of the locking member 245. The lockin plate249 is thereupon moved upwardly past the left edges of the dependingarms 231 of the contact operating levers 221 which have been positionedin their contact closing positions, in the case assumed theNos. 1, 2 and4 levers, and past the right edges of the depending arms 231 of thelevers 221 which have been moved away from their contact closingpositions, in the case assumed the No. 3 lever. At the same time themovement of the locking member 245 permits the closure of the pair ofcontact springs 251 for a purpose to be later described. The informationwhich has been transmitted to the receiver in response to thetransmission of the first series of code impulses has now been lockedinto the receiver and may be used as will be presently described tooperate the associated printer. The selector fingers may now be reset inaccordance with impulses of the next code series transmitted from thesending distributor.

When the receiver magnet 200 is deenergized during the interval that thebrush on the distIiJblltOI' arm 125 is passing over the start segment118, the cam barrel 204 is again released for rotation through a singlecomplete revolution and the clutch throw-out disc 231 and associated camdisc 241 are rotated untilthe roller 243 again enters the depression inthe cam disc 241 and the cam on the face of disc 231 engaging with theend of arm 236 of the clutch throwout lever 234 has forced the clutchdisc 240 against the tension of spring 242 out of engagement with theclutch collar 206 thereby arresting the rotation of cam disc 241. Withthe cam roller 243 seated in the depression in the cam disc 241, thestop plate is moved by the spring 254 to release the depending lockingarms 231 of the contact operating levers so that they may be reset inaccordance with the operation of the receiving magnet 200 in response tothe impulse series then being received.

With the Nos. 1, 2 and 4 pairs of contacts 252 operated in accordancewith the impulse series received to indicate that the printer shouldprint an asterisk, then when the contact pair 251 is closed by thelocking member 249, a first circuit is established from battery, overcontacts 251, conductor 255, through the winding of register relay 301,conductor 256 and over the No. 1 contacts 252 to ground; a secondcircuit is established from battery over contacts 251, conductor 255,through the winding of register relay 302, conductor 251 and over theNo. 2 contacts 252 13. togroundand a. third circuit is established frombattery over contacts 25L conductor 255, through the winding of registerrelay 354, conductor259' tery 'andsover the back contact of relay 453'through .the winding of start magnet 53 to battery. Magnet 4l2operates'to attract its armature, 414 against the tension of itsrestoring spring 415., whereupon the locking arm did of the T -shapedtypebar 532 is released for operation.

The printer, as disclosed in Fig. 4, is provided with twelveT-shapedxtype bars-42i to 432, in elusive; each having'a rearwardlyextending locking'arm 4-16 normally engaged betwee the detentprojections 411 and 4th on the outer face orthe associated releasemagnet armature 494, .a vertically extending arm 419 having a leafspring 425 riveted or otherwise secured thereto for em gagementwith theprinting bail 433 and a .f.orwardly extending'arm 4-34 having atype face435. The type faces1 of the twelve bars are in alignment and aredisposed over a platen strip 435. The type faces ofthe type bars 42! to435, inclusive, bearthesdigits 1 tell, inclusive, the type face of thetype bar 43f bears the character and the type face of typebar 432 bearsthe character In addition each type iface bears a typearea of suitableshape, such as a solid square, whereby when the type face of the typebar is depressed in a printing operation, such type area will be printedon the ticket or tape adjacent to the digit or character carried by thesame type bar. The twelve type bars are pivotally mounted on a rod "431which is suitably supported in the framepf the printer.

For operating the printing bail 4-33'and for ad vancingthe paper feedroller 438', a motor driven shaft 439 is provided. Mounted onsaidshaftand normally uncoupled therefrom is a sleeve 44!!- having twocams 44! and 442 secured thereto. One end of said-sleeve abuts thecollar 443 secured to said shaft and the other end of said sleeve iskeyed to the sleeve 444 which is slidable on the shaft 439. Sleeve 444has formed integrally therawith'a clutch throw-out cam disc 445 and atoothed clutch disc 445. The clutch disc is arranged to be engaged withthe toothed clutch collar 441 secured to the shaft 439 under the infiuence of spiral spring 448 which surrounds the sleeve 444 between thecam 442and the throwout disc 445. The engagement of the clutch disc' 445with the clutch collar M1 is normally re strainedyby the clutch releasearm. 449 secured to the armature 453 of the magnet 455, the end of whicharm engages the cam surface of the throwout disc 445 under the influenceof the armature restoring spring 45!. When the magnet 455 is momentarilyenergized, the end of the clutch release arm 449 is removed from the camface of the clutch throw-out disc thereby permitting the engagement ofthe clutch disc 445 with the clutch collar 44'! whereupon the sleeve 444 together with the associated cams 441 and 442 are rotated. with theshaft 435 through one complete. revolution or until the cam face on thethrow-out disc 445 .again'xengages theend of the arm 449 which in themean time has through the release :of magnet-455 .beenpositionedin itspath. When the cam face reengages the end of the arm 449', the clutchdisc 446 is forced out of engagement with the clutch collar 441 and therotation of sleeve 440 and the cams 441 and 442 is arrested.

Also rotatably supported on the shaft 439 is a sleeve 4521 having formedintegrally therewith a friction clutch disc 453 and a bevel gear 454.Secured to the shaft Mil-adjacent to the disc 453 is a collar 455 havinga washer 455 of friction material secured. to the face thereof and inengagement with the adjacent face of the disc 453. Forholdingzthe-members 453, 455 and 455 in frictional engagement, a spiralspring 451 is provided which surrounds the sleeve 452 and is interposedbetween the gear 454 and the collar 458 secured to theshaft 439. Thepaper feed roller 435 has a shaft 469 which maybe suitably supported inbearings secured to the printer frame and is provided at one endof theroller with an escapement ratched. wheel 45I and at the other end of theroller with a driving gear 452 which is geared through the worm gear463. the shaft454 and the bevel gear 485 with the driving gear'454. Therotation of the feed roller. 438 through the driving linkage justdescribed is normally restrained by a pawl 455 of the escapement 458,the friction clutch comprising members 453, 455 and 455 slipping withoutstopping the rotation of the driving shaft 439. To hold the paperagainst the feed roller 433 to insure a positive feeding thereof, apressurero-ller (notshown) would be employed. To simplify thedisclosure, the usual inking apparatus has also been omitted from thedrawing.

The escapement 458 has two pawls-455 and 45'? which cooperate with theratchet wheel 45! to permit the step-by-step rotation of the feedroller. The escapement is pivoted to the printer frame at 489 and oneend thereof is pivotally connected to a slidably supported operatingmember 4153, the upper end of which carries a roller 41| cooperatingwith the cam 442. Spring 412 connected at one of its ends to theescapement 45S and'having its other end connected to the printer frame,serves to maintain the roller 41'! in firm engagement with the surfaceof Cam When durin the rotation of the cam 442, theoperating member 415is raised, escapement pawl 455 is disengaged from a tooth of the ratchetwheel 451 and the pawl 451 is moved to a position to be engaged byanother tooth whereby the ratchet wheel is permitted to advance a halftooth step. When thereafter the :cam 442 rotates a half revolution, thecam 442 permits the member 415 to be lowered by the spring 412 therebydisengaging the pawl 451from atooth of ratchet wheel 45! and moving thepawl 455. to a position to be engaged by another tooth, whereby theratchet wheel is permitted to advance another half step. Two of the halfstep advances of the ratchet wheel are sumcient to advance the paperfeed roller to feed the paper or ticket'tape one half of aline space andsince the cam 442 has twonhigh points, the feed roller is operatedthrough two half line space movements during each revolution of the camThe cam 44! cooperates with a roller 4'53 carrled' by the arm 4'54 ofthe printing bail 433 whereby the bail is pressed against the springs425 carried. by the arms 459 of all type bars and is effective therebyto press the type face of any released type bar against the paper. It isto be noted that the high points on the printing bail operating cam 441is in such a rotary position between the high points of the paper feedcam 442 that the paper is fed a half line space followed by thedepression of a released type bar and then followed by a second advanceof the paper another half line space.

Returning to the operation of the circuit, it will be recalled that inresponse to the transmission of the series of code impulses for theasterisk character, the type bar release magnet 412 and the start magnet400 were both operated and that the relay 413 was also operated. Relay413 is slow to operate and therefore does not operate until after bothmagnets 412 and 400 have operated but after being operated opens thecircuit of magnet 400 which thereupon releases. Magnet 400 is thereforeoperated only momentarily or for a sufiicient interval to permit theengagement of clutch disc 446 with the clutch collar 44'! to start therotation of the cams 441 and 442 which, since the magnet 400 is quicklydeenergized, is terminated when the cams have made one revolution aspreviously described. The operated type bar release magnet 412 and relay413 are held operated until the register relays 301, 302 and 304 arereleased through the operation of the receiver of Fig. 2.

As the cam 442 rotates through a first half revolution, escapement 468is operated toadvance the paper a half line space in the mannerpreviously described. Thereafter the cam 44! becomes effective tooperate the printing bail 433 to press the released type bar 432 toprint an asterisk and a scanning mark on the paper. Although the bailalso presses against springs 420 secured to the other type bars, sincethese type bars are locked against movement by the armatures 414 oftheir associated release magnets, the springs 420 yield without movingsuch type bars. As the cams 441 and 442 continue their rotation, the cam441 releases the printing bail which is restored to its normal positionby the tensioned springs 420 and the cam 442 again causes the escapement458 to advance the paper another half line space. When the cams 441 and442 complete a full revolution, the cam face of the cam throw-out disc445 engaging the arm 449, disengages the clutch members 446 and 441whereupon the rotation of the cams is arrested.

Upon the restoration of the printing bail 433, a spring 4'15 restoresthe operated type bar 432 to its normal position and with the releasemagnet 412 by this time deenergized, the end of the arm 4115 of the typebar cams over the cam surface of the upper detent projection 418 carriedby the magnet armature 414 and is locked between the two detentprojections 41'! and 418.

In a similar manner the printer is operated to print another asterisk onthe paper in response to the next code signal series transmitted by thesending distributor. In response to the next signal series, assumed tobe one impulse transmitted in sending position 4 of the sendingdistributor for the digit 4, the receiver responds to cause theoperation of register relay 304 whereupon a circuit is established fromground over the No. 3 left back contact of relay 301, the No. 1 leftback contact of relay 302, the No. 3 left back contact of relay 303, theNo. 1 right front contact of relay 304, through the winding of type barrelease magnet 4115 (not shown) to battery through the winding of relay413 and over the back contact of relay 413 to battery through thewinding of magnet 400. Relay 413 and magpaper.

nets 400 and 405 operate and the printer is there-' by controlled in themanner previously described to cause the operation of the type bar 425to print the digit land a scanning mark on the Other digits and thecharacter are printed in a similar manner.

It is to be noted that each of the twelve digit and character symbols,due to the transverse alignment of the type bar faces across the paperor tape, are printed together with their associated scanning marks intwelve different positions across the width of the tape and suchscanning mark positions when scanned by an electronic scanner may beemployed to determine the nature of the printed symbol. The faces of thetype bars could equally well be arranged to operate a punch pin in thewell-known manner to punch holes in the tape for sensing by an electricscanner or other suitable type of sensing apparatus.

What is claimed is:

1. In a printer control system, a line, a plurality of characterconductors, a distributor, means controllable over said conductors forcausing said distributor to selectively transmit codes of impulses oversaid line in accordance with the characters represented by saidconductors, a printer having a type bar for each of said characters, arelease magnet for each said type bars, a plurality of relaysselectively operable to cause the selective operation of said type barrelease magnets, and a receiver having a single magnet operable by codeimpulses transmitted over said line for selectively operating saidrelays.

2. In a printer control system, a line, a plurality of characterconductors, a distributor, means controllable over said conductors forcausing said distributor to selectively transmit codes of impulses oversaid line in accordance with the characters represented by saidconductors, a printer having a type bar for each of said characters, arelease magnet for each of said type bars, a printing bail common tosaid type bars, a rotatable cam for operating said bail, a start magnetfor initiating the rotation of said cam, a plurality of relaysselectively operable to cause the operation of said start magnet and theselective operation of said type bar release magnets, and a receiverhaving a single magnet operable by code impulses transmitted over saidline for selectively operating said relays.

3. In a printer control system, a line, a plurality of characterconductors, a distributor, means controllable over said conductors forcausing said distributor to selectively transmit codes of impulses oversaid line in accordance with the characters represented by saidconductors, a printer having a type bar for each of said characters, arelease magnet for each of said type bars, a printer bail common to saidtype bars,

a rotatable cam for operating said bail, a paper feeding mechanism, arotatable cam for operating said feeding mechanism, a start magnet forinitiating the rotation of said cams, a plurality of relays selectivelyoperable to cause the operation of said start magnet and the selectiveoper ation of said type bar release magnets, and a receiver having asingle magnet operable by code impulses transmitted over said line forselectively operating said relays.

4. In a printer control system, a line, a plurality of characterconductors, a distributor, means controllable over said conductors forcausing said distributor to selectively transmit codes of impulses oversaid line in accordance with the.

characters represented by said conductors, a printer having a type barfor each of said characters, said type bars being positioned parallel toeach other with their type faces aligned transversely with respect tothe direction of movement of the paper through the printer, each of saidtype faces carrying a type symbol and a scanning mark, a release magnetfor each of said type bars, a plurality of relays selectively operableto cause the selective operation of said type bar release magnets, and areceiver having a single magnet operable by code impulses transmittedover said line for selectively operating said relays.

5. In a printer control system, a line, a plurality of characterconductors, a distributor, means controllable over said conductors forcausing said distributor to selectively transmit codes of impulses oversaid line in accordance with the characters represented by saidconductors, a

printer having a type bar for each of said characters, a release magnetfor each of said type bars, a printing bail common to said type bars, aconstantly driven shaft, a rotatable cam for operating said bail, anormally disengaged clutch for coupling said cam to said shaft, meansfor normally holding said clutch disengaged, a start magnet foroperating said latter means, a plurality of relays selectively operableto cause the operation of said start magnet and the selective operationof said type bar release magnets, and a receiver having a single magnetoperable by code impulses transmitted over said line for selectivelyoperating said relays.

6. In a printer control system, a line, aplurality of characterconductors, a distributor, means controllable over said conductors forcausing said distributor to selectively transmit codes of impulses oversaid line in accordance with the characters represented by saidconductors, a printer having a type bar for each of said characters, arelease magnet for each of said type bars, a leaf spring secured to eachof said type bars, a printing bail common to said type bars and normallyengaged with said springs, a rotatable cam for operating said bail, astart magnet for initiating the rotation of said cam whereby said bailoperates a released type bar and flexes the leaf springs of unreleasedtype bars, a plurality of relays selectively operable to cause theoperation of said start magnet and the selective operation of said typebar release magnets, and a receiver having a single magnet operable bycode impulses transmitted over said line for selectively operating saidrelays.

7. In a printer control system, a line, a plurality of characterconductors, a distributor, means controllable over said conductors forcausing said distributor to selectively transmit codes of impulses oversaid line in accordance with the characters represented by saidconductors, a printer having a type bar for each of said characters, arelease magnet for each of said type bars, a plurality of relaysselectively operable to cause the selective operation of said type barrelease magnets, and a receiver operable by code impulses transmittedover said line for selectively operating said relays, said receiverhaving a set of contact pairs for establishing the circuits of saidrelays, a corresponding set of selectors for determining the open orclosed condition of the contact pairs of said sets, an electromagnetresponsive to code impulses transmitted over said line, a rotary member,and means controlled by said rotary member for operatively associatingsaid selectors in order and each successively with the armature of saidmagnet and with the corresponding contact pair.

8. In a printer control system, a line, a plurality of registers, aplurality of character conductors, a plurality of translator relaysindividual respectively to said conductors and operable thereover, meansfor repeatedly and selectively operating said relays in accordance withthe settings of said registers, a distributor, means controllable bysaid relays for causing said distributor to selectively transmit codesof impulses over said line in accordance with the characters representedby said conductors and associated relays, a printer having a type barfor each of said characters, a release magnet for each of said typebars, a plurality of register relays selectively operable to cause theselective operation of said type bar release magnets, and a receiveroperable by code impulses transmitted over said line for selectivelyoperating said register relays.

9. In a printer control system, a line, a plurality of registers, aplurality of character conductors, a plurality of translator relaysindividual respectively to said conductors and operable thereover, aprogress switch operable in each successive position thereof to causethe selective operation of one of said relays in accordance with thesetting of a difierent one of said registers, a startstop distributor,means controlled by the operation of each one of said relays to causethe selective connection of ground to one or more of the segments ofsaid distributor and to cause the operation of said distributor througha single operating cycle to transmit a code of impulses over said linein accordance with the character represented by the operated translatorrelay, a printer having a type bar for each of said characters, arelease magnet for each of said type bars, a. plurality of registerrelays selectively operable to cause the selective operation of saidtype bar release magnets, and a receiver operable by code impulsestransmitted over said line for selectively operating said registerrelays.

WILMARTH Y. LANG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are-of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,179,712 Burcky et al Nov. 14,1939 2,115,185 Weber Apr. 26, 1938 2,272,475 Ostline Feb. 10, 19422,273,165 Wright Feb. 17, 1942 2,289,939 Stehlik July 14, 1942 1,932,932Grimth Oct. 31, 1933 2,075,713 Griflith Mar. 30, 1937 2,114,294 GreenApr. 19, 1938 2,337,553 Hofgaard Dec. 28, 1943 2,288,819 Nichols July 7,1942 2,315,727 Nichols Apr. 6, 1943

